my friend and i are going to europe in october. we would like to fly into switzerland and take a scenic train ride to venice. our actual trip is venice, florence, and rome. the train ride is just a great way to begin our vacation in venice. any suggestions? thank you.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16810 posts
The most scenic would be the Bernina Express, but it is not the most direct. You should allow 2 days for this if you can. The route would be Zurich to Chur, then St. Moritz and over the Bernina route to Tirano in Italy. From Tirano, you take the regional train to Milan and catch the fast train to Venice from there. Pontresina or Poschiavo would be good places to spend the night on this route. If you want to do the trip all in one day, it is better to take the gotthard pass route from Zurich to Milan (3 hours 41 minutes) and then pick up the train to Venice there. The Gotthard route has a few tunnels so it is not as scenic as the Bernina route, but much more direct.
Posted by
Toledo
653 posts
joan, I've taken the more direct route and although there are some tunnels, it was beautiful.
Posted by
Mission Viejo, Calif., USA
1010 posts
Hello. My husband and I did the Bernina Express and the William Tell tours in 2009. We did them in one day each. They were lovely trips and we would recommend them to anybody. When we started the Bernina Express, in Lugano, it was a bus ride at first. We rode around Lake Magiorre; it was so nice. We ended our Bernina in Zurich. When wer took the William Tell, we started on a paddle wheeler in Lucerne and ended up by train in Lugano. Our hotel was just a few yards from the train stop. We loved our Hotel Dante Center in Lugano.
Posted by
OP
syosset, ny
19 posts
thank you.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
Switzerland is amazingly beautiful and is one of those places that just beacons you outside. Train rides are nice, but don't just see Switzerland from the window of your train. Get out and about in the Bernese Oberland in the mountain villages.